Tuesday, March 6, 2012

"CAIRO: Gunmen set off an explosion at a gas pipeline in Egypt in the 13th such attack on the pipeline that transports gas to Israel and Jordan since former president Hosni Mubarak was ousted in popular street protests about one-year ago.

The pipelines carry cheap gas to Israel and Jordan. The 20-year gas deal struck with Israel in 2005 under Mubarak’s reign entails very favorable conditions for Israel. It is highly-contested among Egyptians who see the deal as a selling-off of its natural resources, besides the objection of exporting to Israel as a matter of principle.

On the other hand, Israel is highly dependent on the gas imports from Egypt, which accounts for 43 percent of its gas supplies.

Under popular pressure to toughen its stance towards Israel, the interim government has sought to renegotiate the terms of the gas deal with Israel, but so far with no success. However, they were able to double the price of gas exported to Jordan [But not Israel! Way to go SCAF!] last month......"